That was my mantra when pitching for this term’s NextGen Indigenous program. Anywhere and everywhere, there is a Indigenous student with a meaningful story to tell.
One of these students is Rene Chavez, a third year biology student at the University of California, Davis. I had the privilege of meeting Rene at his campus (which, funny enough, is a rival to my own university, Sacramento State). I would like to thank Rene for letting me uplift his story. This story wouldn’t exist without him.
My experience with NextGen was entirely positive. This is thanks to the many talented people I had to uplift me. It would feel odd doing a reflection without mentioning them, so here’s more about them:
My appreciation begins with the NextGen program and the Native American Journalism Association for hosting this project in the first place. As an Native reporter, I am thankful programs like these exist. Being Indigenous in journalism is challenging, but opportunities like these make it easier to break into the industry.
I wouldn’t be a part of this cohort if it weren’t for Doug Mitchell, our project director, who encouraged me to apply. I’m glad I worked on this project before I graduate from Sac State in May. It’s been fulfilling. So thank you, Doug!
My mentor, Carrie Jung, has also been a pleasure to work with. She’s been there every step of the way and supported me throughout this entire program. She reassured me when I had doubts, helped me whenever I came across an obstacle, and was overall a great coach.
My gratitudes also extends to Dan Lyon, our visuals editors, for being the most enthusiastic person I’ve ever worked with on photo captions and photos. (Likewise, shoutout to my talented peers at The State Hornet, my student newsroom, for teaching me the rule of thirds and how to write photo captions).
I entered this program with some anxiety. My biggest concern was the audio story as I have no experience working with Adobe Audition. I was a bit nervous that my inexperience would be a detriment. However, that wasn’t the case thanks to Abby Fritz and Selena Seay-Reynolds, our audio producers. (Fun fact: Abby and I worked together at our high school newspaper, The Californian. She was my photo editor and I was her managing editor! Small world, right?). Both Abby and Selena taught me everything I needed to know about Audition, and because of their lesson, I felt prepared.
As I wrap up this week, I am thankful I had the opportunity to contribute to something so meaningful. Overall, all of the NextGen coaches and mentors I worked with were fantastic and uplifted me as a reporter, including our managing editor Traci Tong and my assigned web editor, Alexis Richardson.
I am grateful to have been a part of this cohort of NextGen Indigenous reporters. It’s the coolest job to tell stories, especially the ones from my people.